Jacob Babb: Graduate Student
By Kristina Hargett
Striving for success
After receiving his B.A. in history and M.A. in English
from Western Carolina University, Jacob Babb became a lecturer
and started teaching writing and literature courses at his
alma mater. When asked why he taught at Western, he said,
“I loved WCU and I thought that teaching there for a
few years was one way to do some good for students who chose
to go there.”
Instead of the “traditional” curriculum for his
literature courses, Babb decided to incorporate some non-canonical
reads. Along with the classics such as George Orwell’s
“1984” and William Faulkner’s “As
I Lay Dying,” Babb introduced students to some modern
literature like Christopher Moore’s “Lamb”
and Douglas Adams’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide
to the Galaxy.”
Higher learning
Babb is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro with a concentration in composition
and rhetoric. He lives in Greensboro with his wife of five
years, Niki Babb, who is also a WCU alum. Their two dogs give
them plenty of company. When he is not rough-housing with
the canines or reading, Babb enjoys listening to and playing
music.
For many people, college consists of partying too much or
never leaving study hall, but when it comes down to it, the
years fly by and most wonder what they really got out of their
undergrad years. Babb, at least, can answer this question:
“Western taught me to be a student, to engage in critical
inquiry.”
Let’s hope you can say your education taught you something
other than just how to cure a hangover.
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